In recent years, golf has enjoyed increasing popularity among the general public. Unfortunately, a proper golf swing is one of the most difficult sports movements to master. Part of the difficulty in mastering a golf swing comes from strength deficiencies and lack of coordination between the involved muscle groups. The golf swing is a full body movement that requires the coordinated integration of upper body and lower body movements, with the abdominal and lower back muscles (a.k.a. the core) acting to transmit power between the upper and lower body while stabilizing the spine.
FIG. 1 illustrates the planes of motion of the human body. The movement pattern of a golf swing occurs primarily in the transverse (a.k.a. axial) plane of movement, which tends to be a weak plane of movement even for relatively strong individuals because most conventional strength exercises occur in the sagittal plane and to a lesser extent in the frontal plane. While many, if not most natural movements do have a transverse plane component to them, these movements are rarely performed under conditions of load and power similar to that of a golf swing. Even explosive athletic movements with a significant transverse plane component such as throwing a ball or swinging a tennis racquet are performed against relative light resistance and use implements that have much shorter lever arms than a golf club, requiring the generation of less torque. Therefore, not only do the necessary muscles have to be properly strengthened, they must also be able to produce force in a coordinated way within the transverse plane.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an apparatus that not only helps to strengthen the muscles used in a golf swing but does so in a manner that reinforces proper golf swing technique